Chapter 12: Testimonios Of Senior-Level Latino1 Student Affairs Professionals: Donde Hay Gana, Hay Maña

Before we go into our thoughts and reflections of our combined 50 years in the student affairs profession, we would first like to ask two important questions: What is the representation of Latinx professionals in higher education student affairs? How can we retain our Latinx new professionals and mid-level colleagues when, according to Marshall, Gardner, Hughes, and Lowery (2016), over half are likely to leave within the first 5 years?

We ask these two questions because we see ourselves quite literally as survivors in a field that 25 years ago had miniscule representation of professionals who look like us-Latino males. In fact, Sagaria and Johnsrud (1991) stated, at the time we entered the field, approximately 1.6% of all student affairs professionals were Latina/os. One percent. Two percent if you kindly round it up. While an approximate figure, you can imagine what it was like being a new Latinx professional entering a field where it was rare to see others like yourself. For us, being Latino males made it even more challenging.